Knicks Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Looming Large vs. Celtics

The New York Knicks traded for Karl-Anthony Towns in the offseason for playoff series like the one they are about to embark on against the Boston Celtics.

Towns will be expected to play a big part in the Knicks' plans against the Celtics, and his individual success will likely correlate with the team's.

The Athletic insider James Edwards III thinks that the team will need Towns to step up to the plate against the Celtics.

"Towns has to consistently punish smaller players when they are guarding him. A few NBA head and assistant coaches I talked to said that part of their thinking in putting smaller players on Towns is that they don’t believe he can commit to playing a bruising style throughout an entire game or series, and that he’ll eventually revert to his finesse ways at some point," Edwards wrote.

"Towns can’t settle for as many fallaway, midrange jumpers or running floaters as he did against Detroit, even if he is talented enough to hit those shots here and there. The Celtics’ defenders are too good and their offense is too potent.

"New York also needs to do a good job of making sure Towns is involved in the bulk of its offensive actions. After all, he’s one of the best offensive players on the court.

"On the other end of the floor, Towns has to execute his coverages at an elite level against Boston. He can’t be too slow to close-out on Porzingis on the perimeter. If he’s blitzing, he’s got to make sure to commit aggressively and with active, high hands, like he did at times against the Pistons. If he’s in a drop, he does still have to contest shots and rebound well."

The Knicks will need to pull out all the stops against the Celtics, so if Towns isn't on his A-game, New York can start booking the flights to Cancun.